Vladimir or Wladimir Herța (; – 3 August 1924), was a Bessarabian-born Romanian politician, entrepreneur, jurist, and amateur singer. He was initially active in the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire, where his family owned large estates that served as his main source of income. He claimed descent from the boyardom, asserting both Romanian ethnicity and inclusion within the Russian nobility, though his claims were disputed. Herța trained as a lawyer and established a legal practice in Kishinev, where he built himself a Baroque Revival villa, later used for political gatherings during and after the Russian Revolution of 1905. In that context, he was a liberal-conservative member of the zemstvo, who embraced certain tenets of Romanian nationalism while criticizing separatist aspirations in Bessarabia. After the revolutionary events, he settled in the Kingdom of Romania, alternating between Iași and Bucharest. His capitalist ventures included a cement factory in Dudești and glassworks in Deleni-Maxut.
At the height of World War I, and in the context of the February Revolution, Herța came to lead the zemstvo of Orgeyevsky Uyezd, where he owned land at Onișcani. Alongside Vladimir Cristi, Vasile Stroescu, and Paul Gore, he represented the right wing of Bessarabian autonomism. This group favored devolution under the Russian Provisional Government while opposing the absorption of Bessarabia by the Ukrainian People's Republic. Though agreeing to merge into the National Moldavian Party, which had Herța as vice-president, the faction was wary of the more left-leaning agenda of younger nationalists such as Ion Pelivan and Ion Inculeț, remaining conservative on issues of land ownership. Herța campaigned for the establishment of a Bessarabian assembly, which was ultimately formed under the name Sfatul Țării. The separatist drive coincided with the October Revolution, as Bessarabian politicians coalesced around opposition to Soviet Russia, forming the independent Moldavian Democratic Republic as an anti-communist entity.
Herța subsequently supported the Romanian military intervention in Bessarabia and, in early 1918, welcomed the Moldavian republic's union with Romania. The new regime, which initially favored Bessarabian autonomy, appointed him Mayor of Chișinău in September 1918. After the war, a regional power struggle led by Inculeț’s Bessarabian Peasants' Party resulted in the purge of dissidents from the local administration. Herța, who lost his office during these events, attempted to establish his own opposition group, the Romanian League, later aligning it with the nationwide People's Party. He remained committed to administrative devolution and strongly objected to the land reform, yet continued to advocate national unity, participating as a delegate of Bessarabian landowners in the Paris Peace Conference. He was also outspoken in his anti-communism and opposition to Soviet expansionism. After a period of withdrawal from politics, Herța made a brief return as a local leader of the National Liberal Party in 1924, but died suddenly that same year, leaving his widow in poverty. His villa endures as a secondary venue of the National Museum of Fine Arts, Chișinău.
Biography Early life Herța was born on 14 May 1868 in Chișinău (known in Russian as Kishinev).Iurie Colesnic, "Istoria noastră. Vladimir Hertza, adept al Unirii și primar de Chișinău", in Funcționarul Public, Issue 20/2014, p. 9 Historian Gheorghe E. Cojocaru describes him as hailing from an "old family of noblemen";Cojocaru, p. 15 likewise, the physician and social commentator I. Duscian identifies him as a titular member of the boyar class of ancestral Moldavia.I. Duscian, "Vladimir de Herța", in Universul, 12 August 1924, p. 1 One report from 1910 claimed that Vladimir's family had founded an eponymous town in Moldavia's Dorohoi County."O frumoasă donațiune", in Evenimentul, 30 November 1910, p. 2 Such accounts are questioned by other authors, including Iurie Colesnic. Through his father Constantin, Vladimir probably descended from German colonists, but apparently hid his origins by presenting himself as a member of the boyardom, and adding a nobiliary particle, de, to his family name. Some of his contemporaries believed that he was a baron.Florin, "Foi volante", in Mișcarea, 6 November 1910, p. 2"Știri artistice. Concert de binefacere", in Adevărul, 23 January 1916, p. 2
Herța is believed to have graduated from the prestigious Gymnasium No 1 in his native city, but in 1879 he was registered as a third-year student at the Gubernial High School—one year behind Constantin Stere and Toma Ciorbă.Dinu Poștarencu, "Date inedite din biografia lui Constantin Stere", in Anuarul Muzeului Literaturii Române Iași, Vol. III, 2010, p. 45 He is also presumed to have completed law school in Yaroslavl, thus qualifying as an attorney. He married early in life, disobeying his father and forfeiting his right to the Herța estate. For a while, he lived in the Kingdom of Italy, earning money as a street musician; he was a noted baritone. He eventually inherited from Constantin, but squandered most of that wealth over several decades. His attested wife in later years was Natalia Levinskaya, whose father Iulian Levinski was a local politician in the Governorate; she herself had once been lady-in-waiting to Alexandra Feodorovna, the Russian Empress.Coresp., "Gestul tragic al unei aristocrate basarabene", in Opinia, 5 May 1932, p. 4 In December 1893, after an incident on the Romanian–Russian border, at Novoselytsia (where one Bessarabian boatmen had been shot by a Romanian border guard), Herța served on an investigation committee that represented both sides of the diplomatic conflict."Incidentul de la Novo-Sulițe. Amĕnunte", in Universul, 1 (13) December 1893, p. 1
Herța's main source of revenue was his agricultural land: in 1901, he was recorded as the owner of 238 dessiatin, or about 260 hectares, in Hirișeni;Bacalov et al., p. 241 in 1905, he owned various estates totaling 17,000 hectares.Alexis Nour, "Cei doi 'cadeți' români", in Adevărul Literar și Artistic, Vol. IX, Issue 440, May 1929, p. 1 He was also engaged in business dealings in Romania—he reportedly preferred that jurisdiction even as a youth, having grown "disgusted by the life he had lived" under Tsarist autocracy. Until 1911, his and his family's main residence was the former Moldavian capital of Iași, at 10 Catargi Boulevard. In July 1899, acting as a representative for the Bessarabian lady Ecaterina Moscoleva, he bought a townhouse from the local chemist Petru Poni.Ornea, p. 281 In April 1900, he sold that property to the Stere, who had since escaped from Bessarabia as a political convict. Stere who paid him a sum of 11,000 rubles.Ornea, pp. 281–282 By January 1906, he had bought back the house from Stere, and was using it as his legal address.Constantin Ostap, "Istoria restaurării. Restaurarea istoriei. Unde a fost prima redacție a Vieții Românești?", in Dacia Literară, Vol. IV, Issue 16, 1995, p. 28
1905 Revolution and World War I
At Kishinev, Herța bought himself the Balș Orphanage on Alexandrovskaya Avenue, demolished it in 1903, and had it rebuilt as a Baroque Revival villa by 1905.Munteanu, pp. 106–111 It was designed by a team of architects that included Heinrich Lonski of Austria-Hungary, and was considered one of Kishinev's most beautiful buildings, as well as a center for functions involving high society. "Casa Hertza, victimă a nepăsării autorităților", in Adevărul Moldova, 13 January 2012 Herța had a political role in the Russian Revolution of 1905, as it unfolded regionally. In October, his new home became an informal headquarters for the liberal faction of the Kishinev zemstvo, which soon became a chapter of the Constitutional Democratic Party. As a member of that group, Mayor Leopold Siținski made a half-joking proposal that Herța be proclaimed a Hospodar, or Prince, over the entirety of Bessarabia. Herța encouraged the growth of a progressive movement, giving his blessing to the appearance of Ion Pelivan's Romanian-language paper, called Basarabia.Constantin & Negrei, p. 69 Ahead of the legislative elections in March 1906, Bessarabia's intellectuals split into factions. The radicalized youth, which cultivated Romanian nationalism and democratic ideals, recognized Pelivan as its informal leader. The conservative group, formed around Pavel Dicescu, supported education in Romanian, but was skeptical of other nationalist goals; its affiliates included Herța, Paul Gore, and Teodor Suruceanu. Their failure to embrace a common agenda hurt their chances in the election, and as a result all Bessarabian seats in the State Duma went to Russians and Russophiles."Din istoria Basarabiei robite. Renașterea curentului național în Basarabia", in Înfrățirea, Issue 1055, April 1924, p. 5
In 1907, the Herța villa was briefly requisitioned by the Volhynian Life Guards Regiment, and was then leased to the Modern Theater.Munteanu, p. 106 The "baron" was still based in Romania, where he also took his mother, Porfira. She died in Iași in December 1908, whereupon her remains were transported for interment in Bessarabia."Depeși din țară", in Viitorul, 24 December 1908, p. 2 In late 1910, Herța made one of his return trips to Kishinev; his train was stopped at Ungheni by the Special Corps of Gendarmes, who searched all the luggage and confiscated various books. By November 1911, he had moved to the Romanian capital, Bucharest. As a parting gift, he and Natalia donated to the charity led by Maria Hinna, which provided warm meals for Iași's underclass. Hinna later received his home in Iași, which she put up for public auction in December 1913."Informații. Societatea Pînea Săracilor", in Opinia, 10 December 1913, p. 3
In 1910, Herța was vice president of Titan Company, which manufactured cement and concrete blocks in Ilfov County, in what was then the unincorporated town of Dudești.Bălăiță, p. 79 In 1912, he took over as chairman from Mihail G. Cantacuzino, who was serving in the first Maiorescu cabinet; Herța was still recorded as chairman in March 1914."Soc. Titan", in Viitorul, 31 March 1914, p. 2 That same year, the factory was granted its own station by the state railway carrier, also servicing the suburb of Cățelu."C. F. R.", in Voința Națională, 15 July 1912, p. 3 In June 1913, Herța welcomed at Titan a delegation of the Romanian Polytechnic Society, led by Anghel Saligny, who praised the enterprise for the "superior quality [and] affordable pricing" of its products."O interesantă vizită la Uzinele Titan", in Dimineața, 13 June 1913, p. 2 He was involved in a joint venture with Fenicia Glassworks, operating the Maxut glass factory in Deleni-Maxut (opened in 1912, and sold to other investors in 1919).Bălăiță, pp. 78–80 In May 1914, he and Alexandru Obregia established Providența Society, which traded in Romanian petroleum; as the largest contributor, he owned stock equivalent to 50,000 lei."Economice și financiare. Agricultură — Comerț — Industrie. O nouă societate de petrol", in Viitorul, 27 May 1914, p. 2